Is it worth applying for PIP?

I managed to do this successfully, though later my career really took off and I lost my PIP (which is totes fair because I need it no longer!)

You really have to lay it on thick about how much difficulty you have. You can't lie to yourself about being 'only just past the ASD threshold' and 'everything is basically ok'. Unless you think hard and visit some very unpleasant memories / recesses of your mind and admit that you have real problems (which will make you feel worse), you won't get PIP.

They also have unqualified people to 'examine' you courtesy of ATOS (if they haven't all been removed yet) who are hired specifically to pick out things you say that don't match up, so that the government doesn't give you s**t.

You almost always have to appeal. It's almost certain that your first request for PIP, even with all your beautiful evidence (and valid diagnosis) will be rejected. You're not getting paid because you are ASD, you are getting paid because you need the money to live (ASD is a spectrum).

You will be in for some months of hard fighting. Phone calls, medical experts, form filling... and make sure you do it perfectly or they'll reject everything.

Honestly: getting a leg up in your career is probably easier than this. Also: even if you 'earn' it, you have to re-prove eligibility every year and go through the whole safari again. And yes: you will feel like a zoo animal when they examine you. They treat you like some kind of ugly alien!

I took my first year of PIP, signed up for a disabled persons rail card for the maximum duration after my last PIP payment (PIP entitles you to a card which may last 2-3 years after your PIP expires and takes one third off all rail travel). After that, I just told them to go f*** themselves over the phone when they requested to 'examine' me like a lab rat again.

It doesn't matter, I earn more now and I abuse the rail card every day to get back at them :P

As you can tell, I have some strong feelings about the PIP process and how it is handled. If you can bring yourself to go through it once, get the rail card / bus pass out of it and then press on at work and move on.

Gaining extra funds from the government / public sector is always a total nightmare as they're all totally incompetent (bred by the lack of competition I suppose, unhealthy work environments for anyone).

Get the bits you can, don't stress, focus back on your main bread-winning opportunities (work and the private sector).

I managed to do this successfully, though later my career really took off and I lost my PIP (which is totes fair because I need it no longer!)

You really have to lay it on thick about how much difficulty you have. You can't lie to yourself about being 'only just past the ASD threshold' and 'everything is basically ok'. Unless you think hard and visit some very unpleasant memories / recesses of your mind and admit that you have real problems (which will make you feel worse), you won't get PIP.

They also have unqualified people to 'examine' you courtesy of ATOS (if they haven't all been removed yet) who are hired specifically to pick out things you say that don't match up, so that the government doesn't give you s**t.

You almost always have to appeal. It's almost certain that your first request for PIP, even with all your beautiful evidence (and valid diagnosis) will be rejected. You're not getting paid because you are ASD, you are getting paid because you need the money to live (ASD is a spectrum).

You will be in for some months of hard fighting. Phone calls, medical experts, form filling... and make sure you do it perfectly or they'll reject everything.

Honestly: getting a leg up in your career is probably easier than this. Also: even if you 'earn' it, you have to re-prove eligibility every year and go through the whole safari again. And yes: you will feel like a zoo animal when they examine you. They treat you like some kind of ugly alien!

I took my first year of PIP, signed up for a disabled persons rail card for the maximum duration after my last PIP payment (PIP entitles you to a card which may last 2-3 years after your PIP expires and takes one third off all rail travel). After that, I just told them to go f*** themselves over the phone when they requested to 'examine' me like a lab rat again.

It doesn't matter, I earn more now and I abuse the rail card every day to get back at them :P

As you can tell, I have some strong feelings about the PIP process and how it is handled. If you can bring yourself to go through it once, get the rail card / bus pass out of it and then press on at work and move on.

Gaining extra funds from the government / public sector is always a total nightmare as they're all totally incompetent (bred by the lack of competition I suppose, unhealthy work environments for anyone).

Get the bits you can, don't stress, focus back on your main bread-winning opportunities (work and the private sector).